Shenryuu War Chronicles vol. 1

Chapter 7

The days of recruiting and finding new generals made Ren and Rin enthusiastic while Sakura and Reiji are proud to see the twins doing a great thing for their kingdom.

"I guess your parents are now happy to see them like that." Reiji told Sakura with a chuckle.

Sakura replied with a smile, "Yes, they are." And then they rode ahead.

Across the roads, the traveling group never stopped until a few miles away, they saw a large house, inhabited by some sort of a family skilled in martial arts and wisdom and strategy.

"Is this the place?" Reiji asked.

"I guess so." Ren looked at the map and it appears they came in the right place. This is the home of the legendary strategist, Kirei Sango. "Well, it looks like we're here."

"The whole place looked so quiet and serene." Sakura thought. "Hey! Ren! I think we just came into a temple or something."

"No, this is not a temple." Ren corrected her. "It's a mansion, owned by the Sango family."

"Ren, the Sango household is located in Enryuu, not here."

"But it's shown in the map. Look, it's written here. It's not in Enryuu, it's here in our kingdom." Ren showed to them the map and it appears he's correct.

"Well, that's strange. How come they ended up coming here?"

"Beats me." Ren wondered.

"Well, if what the map says is true, let's ask the ones who lived in this place. Perhaps by any chance, we can know if Lord Kirei definitely lives here." Rin suggested.

"Yeah, good idea." Ren agreed until somebody appeared behind them.

A man wearing an indigo cloak and a blue kimono. His long hair is properly tied and on his left hand, he holds a pigeon wing which serves as his hand fan.

"Is there a problem, my dear friends?" The man asked and he looked so strange. The travelers don't even know who he is.

"Ahh... Yes. We're actually looking for Lord Kirei Sango." Ren said and the man is surprised to hear it.

"Lord Kirei?" The man wondered.

"Yes. Lord Kirei. Does he live here?"

"And why would you want to know that?"

"Well... It's because we've heard about his brilliance in strategy and tactics in battle so we've decided to come here and visit him,"

"Because you need him, don't you?"

"Ahhh... Yeah. We needed him, actually."

"May I ask why?"

"We need a strategist who will guide us to victory in our war against the other kingdoms. In truth, our kingdom is nearly falling and all hope is already lost when our generals began to abandon us. So, here we are now, we came here to seek help from Lord Kirei and I know that it's probably troublesome to him if we disturb his daily meditation."

"I don't think it's troublesome, young man."

"Excuse me?"

"Lord Kirei is a very wise man and he likes visitors who seeks for his help."

"Really?"

"Yes. Of course, Lord Kirei is a wise strategist and everytime a visitor visits him, he never said a single complain that they are troublesome."

"Why, I didn't know that he's such a nice person."

"Indeed, he is."

Ren sighed and he said, "Well, okay. If that's the case, we'll look for him since he will understand our reasons why we came here and since he's a kind man who always welcomes visitors."

The man smiled. When Ren and his companions are about to enter the household, the man called them out, "And you think that persuading me to join the war is easy, Lord Shenryuu?"

Ren and his companions just noticed what they didn't know about the man.

When they turned around, Ren is surprised to see the man he's looking for. "Lord Kirei?"
Kirei smiled. "Actually, I've been expecting to see you come here and persuade me to fight for you."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. And I'm afraid that I have to say no, should you ask to let me join you."

Ren is surprised to hear that. "Why?" They've tried so hard to persuade every great general in the kingdom and after all those days, they weren't expecting to hear the refusal from the realm's greatest strategist.

Since Ren and his companions doesn't know, Kirei told them.